‘Tenet': A Second Opinion

The king of original blockbusters is back. This time with the heavy-metal, ear-piercing, rip-roaring, and undoubtedly very confusing “Tenet”.

There’s a line that follows the film’s superb prologue, in which a scientist played by Clemence Poesy, utters almost immortal words, “Don’t try to understand it, just feel it”. You’d be forgiven for thinking that was Christopher Nolan speaking directly to audiences worldwide as they’re beaten into submission by this time-traveling, espionage romp.

The opening 10 minutes are just remarkably Nolan. A set-piece at a Kiev opera house involving the film’s Protagonist John-David Washington, known simply as, The Protagonist, confused yet? Well, strap in, because following this high-octane opening, in which the film’s sound will rip through your body like the plane Nolan purposely crashed for another of the film’s highlights, is nearly two and a half hours of tension, thrills, and some frustration to boot.

Upon being recruited by the mysterious “Tenet” agency, our protagonist is brought up to speed on a variety of things, from backward-traveling bullets, through to the news of an impending World War III, masterminded by Ukrainian Oligarch Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh). And it’s through our antagonist that we meet the film’s only real source of emotion, Sator’s wife Katherine (Elizabeth Debicki). Debicki brings the heart to an otherwise purposely cold world that Nolan has created. The film’s other central relationship centers around Washington and his mysterious ally Neil played with an air of levity and charisma by Robert Pattinson. Pattinson’s own stock continuing to rise with each new project he picks.

Nolan’s latest oeuvre will have you so engrossed in both its triumphs and its flaws from the get-go. As pointed out in our EIC’s review, the sound mixing, especially in IMAX does become a problem again for Nolan at points, the roaring of the speakers drowning out what could be potentially important dialogue, something that’s even more crucial in a film where you’re grasping for even the tiniest bit of clarity to the films meaning.

What he has achieved however is yet another visual masterpiece. Love or hate the plot, and I’m sure people will have heavy opinions either way on just how “good” this film is, or where it ranks in Nolan’s filmography, it can’t be denied that Nolan’s masterful eye for the set-piece and Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography make the accomplishment of the craft on display absolutely out of this world.

If you’re a keen fan of Nolan, there is clear enjoyment to be found here, you will feel every punch, kick, bullet thrown, and shot, you will hold your breath when those on-screen do, and you will feel totally immersed in this triumphant feat of cinema no question. But by lacking the poise, accessibility, and character driven-ness of his others such as “Inception”, “Memento”, and “The Prestige” this film will lose people along the way.

This is also yet another Nolan film that will require endless re-watches, possibly more out of a sheer effort to understand than anything else, but also to marvel in the slick performances, dazzling set-pieces, and hugely entertaining world that has been built.

Maybe, however, this is what the re-opening of cinemas needed, a film so hell-bent on ditching realism for the spectacular, and one to its credit and detriment, that pushes storytelling to one side to make way for what Nolan really believes cinema is about. Pure, unfiltered, escapism.